


Cat's Cradle

by bookscape



Category: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 14:38:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20996453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookscape/pseuds/bookscape
Summary: A strange occurrence on an equally strange planet gives Buck Rogers an out of body experience he'll never forget!





	1. Chapter 1

**Dream Weaver**

**I have just closed my eyes again  
** Climbed aboard the Dream Weaver train  
Driver take away my worries of today  
And leave tomorrow behind...

****

**Dream Weaver... I believe you can get me through the night  
Dream Weaver... I believe we can reach the morning light.**

**Fly me** high through the starry skies  
Or maybe to an astral plane  
Cross the highways of fantasy  
Help me to forget today's pain...

**Dream Weaver... I believe you can get me through the night  
Dream Weaver... I believe we can reach the morning light.**

**Though the** dawn may be coming soon  
There still may be some time  
Fly me away to the bright side of the moon  
And meet me on the other side...

**Dream Weaver... I believe you can get me through the night  
Dream Weaver... I believe we can reach the morning light.**

**Copyright©1975 Written and sung by Gary Wright MCA Music Publishing, a division of Universal Studios, Inc.**

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**Hawk eased his starfighter, into the landing bay of the _Searcher _and then into the berth assigned to him.Wilma and Lt. Mendleson had already arrived.Only Buck was still down on the planet below, checking out some readings for Doctor Goodfellow.The anomalies were just a bit too much for the old scientist to ignore and he had requested that an additional survey be conducted.A preliminary survey had been done because the planet, named Worrel after the one who had first landed there, seemed promising for colonization.The additional surveys would either continue to show the planet suitable for habitation or show cause for more detailed exploration.**

**Hawk shut down his engines and opened the hatch, reaching back for the container that held samples he had gathered.Between what he had found and what the others probably had brought in, Dr. Goodfellow would most likely be happy for the next month.**

**There was something, though, that made him uneasy.It was nothing he could pinpoint, and absolutely nothing on the initial surveys that would indicate anything dangerous.However, that had been the case on several planets since he had come on board the _Searcher._Some of the places they had been to harbored secrets no sensor could pick up.**

**Hawk had found nothing when he had been on the surface that would play out his suspicions and there had been nothing more dangerous than a local life form that previous explorers had called brixtels, after some death deity on a different planet in the same quadrant.They were vicious animals that mostly stayed solitary, but could form into packs for hunting.And when they did….Hawk had videographs of one of their concerted efforts to bring down an herbivore that was at least four times the size of one of these brixtels.The scene had showed some slight intelligence, but the colonization scientists would have to figure just how much.Hawk was just grateful that he had not been the object of that hunt.**

**“Welcome back,” Wilma said jauntily, approaching as he climbed down from his fighter.**

**“Thank you,” he replied.“I have much to make Dr. Goodfellow happy.”**

**“We did, too.”She paused a moment.“Heard from Buck?”**

**“No, he has not contacted me for the past six hours.I had assumed that he had checked in with Devlin or the admiral.”**

**Wilma frowned, her previous good mood suddenly muted.“No, he hasn’t.He’s not only overdue with an audio communication, but late coming back on board.”**

**The niggling of worry grew in Hawk’s mind.“How many hours overdue?”**

**“A couple.The admiral is waiting another hour and then he’ll send someone down to look for Buck.”**

**Hawk nodded.“And we know who that will be.”**

**Wilma nodded soberly.She felt the worry gnawing at her and wished she could go look for Buck right now.Looking at Hawk, she figured he did, too.“Indeed we do.”**

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**===========================**

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**Captain Buck Rogers woke with a headache that seemed to rise to the heights of Mount Everest, topped by Denali, topped by half the peaks in the Andes mountain chain.The sun shone brightly, making him feel miserably hot.When he moved, he realized that it wasn’t just his head that ached, every part of his body hurt; so much so that things felt out of joint, inside out and totally out of kilter.He tried to remember what had happened, but couldn’t remember a thing beyond the beginning of his assignment.It had been given to him that morning, if it was still the same day, he thought wryly, wondering how long he had been unconscious.**

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**Buck opened his eyes and then blinked.The world was in varying shades of bright, sparkling greens and blues and browns of an almost metallic hue, everything somewhat translucent in nature, at least around the edges._What the hell kind of world is this? _he thought, reaching up with hands that seemed oddly jointed all of a sudden, to rub his eyes.He cried out when the ‘hand’ that came to his view showed as a mottled green and brown extremity, like a paw, ending in claw tips that suddenly extended in his agitation.The cry was equally distressing, being not that of a human voice, but a deep and deadly hissing like that of a hunting cat from his days back before the holocaust.**

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**Rolling over and looking at his body as best he could; he saw through alien eyes, something that seemed a cross between a mountain lion and a Chinese dragon.All limbs, short mottled fur, _very short_, with muscles playing beneath the skin, and a tail that seemed to have a life of its own.Long whiskers splayed out from his face and when he reached up to feel his head with one paw, he felt a slightly heavier thatch that seemed like a short and perverted Mohawk.Ears were short and rounded.He realized that this must be one of those brixtels he was warned about in his briefing.Very short-tempered and ferocious animals.Well, if he was going to be something other than himself, he began thinking, then cut himself short.There had to be an explanation; there simply had to be.Otherwise he was going crazy.**

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**Slowly, he got to his feet, wobbling with the effort to stand in a position unlike what he was used to._What in the world has happened to me?_He took a step and fell flat on his face.He got up gingerly again and waited until he felt steadier before he tried another step.He moved a leg, trying not to work against this creature’s natural form.This time, Buck didn’t fall, but still it was strange and awkward.He took several more steps and as it became easier, he began looking around.As he continued getting used to this form he was in, Buck tried to think, wracking his brain to figure out all of this.It was like some kind of perverted nightmare, something so absurd that he would surely wake up from it, laugh and then go about his business.No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t think of anything beyond his flight to do more detailed surveys of Worrel.And he couldn’t wake up, he realized somberly.He was already awake.After he got beyond standing upright on all fours and slowly walking around, Buck looked around.The sun was shining down into a small clearing, one ringed on almost all sides by spindly-trunked trees topped by compact branches covered with small, round leaves.There was a mound of boulders on one end of the clearing where the brush had been cleared away, or burned away, he thought in passing, glancing at the charred and withered brush at the base of the largest boulder.There was the gaping maw of a natural cave in the solitary rock outcropping.He felt like he should remember something about it, but try as he might, he couldn’t.**

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**Then he saw something nearby that almost had him screaming again.Himself.His body, lying unconscious (_or dead?)_ about ten feet away.Fear pulsed through his body, paralyzing him._No!_He couldn’t be dead.If he were dead, then he would be stuck….Suddenly, Buck exhaled breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.He couldn’t be dead, he repeated in his mind.But for several more minutes, he was too afraid to check and make sure.His body was so still, crumpled in a way that would be expected with death._Stop it! _he rebuked himself.There was only one way to find out and standing here like some kind of frightened child wasn’t the way to do it.**

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**Slowly, Buck made his way over to his . . . he corrected himself before he began to get morbid . . . himself and leaned down.He nudged his arm, then laid his brixtel head on his chest.Relief flooded through his body.There was a heartbeat, but when he nudged harder, he realized that the unconsciousness was very deep.More like a coma than plain sleep.There were no obvious wounds, but something had definitely affected them both.Then another thought struck him.What about the emotions, thought processes, instincts of the creature whose body he seemed to be inhabiting?Was this like some perverted fantasy sci fi movie, where the minds of various creatures were supplanted into the bodies of other creatures?Was the mind of this brixtel inside his mind?Buck sat back, stunned._What the hell is going on?_ Buck asked again.He looked around for something that might make sense of all this, his starfighter, or some inhabitant that might be responsible for all this.**

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**But there weren’t supposed to be inhabitants._There weren’t supposed to be on the planet of the old Guardian, either,_ he reminded himself.Regardless, he had to get his bearings, try and remember what had happened to him and get help somehow._Nothing difficult,_ he thought sarcastically.First the bearings….Slowly, Buck stretched, getting used to the muscles that seemed like springs, tight, hard and very responsive._Eat your heart out, Tigerman!_Sobering quickly, Buck wondered what would happen when his physical self awoke, especially if the mind of the brixtel was in his body.He sighed and was disconcerted when the sound came out like the soft hissing of steam.**

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**Pondering his options, Buck figured his body was safe enough for him to check his surroundings. If his starfighter was nearby, maybe perhaps he could figure out a way to send a signal to _Searcher._Getting up, he stretched, got his brixtel legs working in concert and padded to the edge of the clearing.He was assaulted by scents from all sides and he tried to make sense of them.Most of the smells were earthy, as though someone had concentrated forest smells into some kind of bizarre, highly scented candle.Buck tried to make sense of it, then attempted to ignore what he could.He felt another headache coming on, and he tried to take a deep breath through his mouth, but apparently there were scent receptors in his mouth, too. Again, the assault on his senses.**

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**Shaking his head, Buck looked up into a tree and figured he would see more of the country that way.He was in the body of some sort of cat, after all.He looked down at his feet, _paws,_ he corrected himself and tried to figure out how to make the claws come out._Open sesame!_Apparently there was something in the mind of this creature that triggered the claw response, but it was nothing conscious.Buck reached up and tried to climb up the trunk, but there was nothing to hang on with and he slid back down.Frustrated, he tried again, making a leap this time.**

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**Finally, sitting down on his haunches, Buck gazed upward, frustrated.How in the hell did those claws work before?How did Wolverine do it?He tried again, to will the appendages to work, but his mind was too cluttered to focus.He had to find out where he was and had to take a chance on leaving his body in the clearing for a while.Again, Buck mentally cringed at the term ‘body.’He got up and padded through the brush, trying to discern where the more metallic scents were coming from.**

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**The sun seemed to be burning his skin and then he remembered that brixtels were more nocturnal.According to the last survey, Buck recalled, brixtels had been coming out more during the day because of a change in the weather pattern, which had changed the ecology of their hunting grounds.In other words, the creatures were hungry and had to hunt during the day to keep from starving.As if it was listening, his stomach growled, but he ignored it.Finally getting a bit of a handle on the scent signals, Buck trotted off in what he believed was the direction of his starfighter.**

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**The trees thinned and became brush, then the brush thinned and in another clearing stood his starfighter.With an exclamation of joy, which didn’t sound the least bit joyful coming from his borrowed body’s throat, he ran to the star craft and leaped onto the wing.Looking back, Buck was amazed at the power in this smaller body.Even though his mind was housed in the cat/dragon that was the size of a mountain lion, he had to have leaped close to twenty feet from a standing position.**

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**It was a relief to Buck to be getting used to the way this creature moved.Not only was falling all over these feet more than embarrassing, it was dangerous to be in such a precarious position in such a wild area.He reached over and tried to push the button that would open the canopy, but nothing happened.He tried again, pushing harder with one stubby digit.Still nothing.Buck sat back and considered, then berated himself for his stupidity.The ident plate would only recognize his fingerprints.Paws didn’t count.And what could he expect to do if he was able to get into his starfighter and try to send a communication?He sat back on his haunches and considered this latest predicament.**

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**================================**

**Hawk and Wilma stood side-by-side, resolute in their desire to return to Worrel.The admiral gazed at them, the concern showing in his eyes.Finally he nodded.“I am hoping we’re only dealing with a mechanical malfunction or something similar.But in case it’s something more serious, I don’t want the search to take a long time.”He paused briefly.“Wilma, I want you to take the south quadrant of Buck’s sector and Hawk, the north.Keep communications open- here and with each other.Whoever finds him first, call immediately.”He paused again and paced a few steps before realizing what he was doing and then took a deep breath.“And good luck.”**

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**“Thank you, Admiral,” Hawk said, pulling on his gauntlets.“We’ll find him.”**

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**“Yes.”As irritating as Buck Rogers could be at times, Asimov felt an affinity to the young man and was more worried than he cared to admit.**

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**Wilma and Hawk walked quickly down the corridor toward the launch bay.Miru was waiting for them at the elevator that went to the hangar.Her eyes were filled with fear and she reached out to touch Hawk on the arm.“Be careful, please,” she said, then she looked at Wilma.“Both of you.I feel there is something down there.Something very powerful.Something that has enveloped….”Miru couldn’t continue for a moment.“Something very fearful.”**

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**“We will, Miru,” Hawk said softly, his gauntleted hand covering hers for a moment.Then he and Wilma continued to the elevator, his demeanor communicating as much assurance as he possibly could.When they arrived at their respective ships, berthed side by side, the pair looked at each other, their eyes showing much more than any words could. Hawk gazed deeply into Wilma’s eyes.“He’s all right.We’ll find him.”Wilma said nothing and Hawk finally gave her a thumb’s up signal.She smiled softly and returned the signal that Buck had taught them both.**


	2. Chapter 2

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**Soon Wilma and Hawk were winging toward the surface, the coordinates of Buck’s survey site showing on their computer screens.When they entered the upper atmosphere, Hawk waggled the wings of his fighter and then banked to the north.Wilma continued on her course to the southern limits of her search.When she reached one thousand feet, she began to get strange readings.The taxtron readings fluctuated wildly.Metoprillin readings, which had also been high, shot to sub-dangerous levels and then dropped to zero.She looked over the readouts more carefully.Everything else was within normal ranges, but the taxtron readings continued to show quick, strong bursts of energy.Metoprillin was a bio-electrical conducive element.Taxtron was a known energy, but very rare and its properties seemed almost impossible to determine.If she remembered correctly, it was changeable depending on its environment.Somehow Wilma thought this might be an important clue to Buck’s disappearance and she banked to make another run-through of the area.The readings were the same, although there was an absence of the metoprillin and a lessening of the taxtron.She noted the addition of a few trace elements that hadn’t shown up before.**

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**Puzzled, Wilma flew lower and checked the readings yet again.They seemed to be concentrated in an area about the size of a shuttle.This would certainly be a puzzle that Buck would be tempted to investigate.She reached for the communicator but then hesitated.If she were wrong, then Hawk would be wasting valuable time on what Buck would call a wild goose chase.Then she noticed something else on the monitor.It was a starfighter.It had to be Buck’s.** ****

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**Carefully, Wilma descended toward the meadow where the starfighter sat in serene repose.As she landed, she noticed that Buck was not around.When Wilma opened the canopy, she noticed an animal sitting on the wing of Buck’s starfighter.It was a brixtel and Wilma felt a quickening of alarm.She looked around for signs of a fight, but saw nothing.There was no flattened brush, no blood.Wilma wondered, knowing what the early surveys had said about the creatures, why it was out in the heat of the day on top of a device that surely had to be warmer than the foliage around it. **

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**As soon as it saw her, it stood up and gazed at her, its large crystalline eyes seeming to study her raptly.Then it jumped down and trotted toward her, its gait deliberate, but not seemingly threatening.Knowing their irascibility, though, she pulled out her laser pistol.Under no circumstances did she want to be attacked before she could find out where Buck was.**

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**The animal stopped immediately and gazed at her again.Wilma was amazed.Not only did its initial responses more closely resemble a kind of a friendly canine, but the brixtel seemed to know exactly what the pistol meant.There hadn’t been anything in the reports to indicate that there had been any recent instances where someone had to shoot one.Maybe Buck had had to stun this one.It continued to watch her, cocking its head as though trying to figure out what to do.Then it raised a paw and held it up.**

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_ **A greeting? ** _ **she wondered.The brixtel took a step and stopped when she held her pistol a little higher.Again, Wilma got the impression that the creature was trying to communicate with her.The brixtel reached down with one paw and began to dig in the dirt.After a few minutes he lifted the paw and looked at it.Wilma could have sworn that he looked disgusted._He?_Yes, Wilma thought, the brixtel was a he.How she knew, she wouldn’t have been able to explain.And apparently these creatures were sentient.That would change the complexion of things with the colonization project.What Wilma couldn’t understand, though, was why such intelligence hadn’t been noticed before.Usually survey teams were very careful to try to find evidence of sentience before placing a planet on a potential colonization list.** ****

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**Wilma checked her instruments and noted the direction of the anomaly.While it would have been nice to try to communicate with the brixtel, she needed to find Buck.Still keeping the animal in sight, Wilma walked into the woods, following a small path that led to the heart of the fluctuating readings.A small sound behind her startled Wilma and she turned.The brixtel was following her.He stopped when she did.He wasn’t trying to sneak up on her, it appeared, just following.As long as he stayed far enough behind, it was fine.Wilma continued on the path, until she came to a clearing.She stopped short.In front of her lay Buck, unmoving and unconscious.With a small cry of fear, she rushed to his side.“Let him be alive,” she whispered to herself, he heart thumping wildly in her chest.She quickly ascertained that he was still alive, but he was totally unresponsive.The brixtel following had stopped about ten feet away, but still Wilma couldn’t let down her guard.One handed, Wilma checked out Buck a little more carefully, but found no wounds of any kind.Why, then, was he unconscious, seemingly comatose she wondered?**

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**Sitting back on his haunches, the brixtel, who was Buck, watched, relieved that help had finally arrived, but wondering how in the world he was going to communicate to Wilma.When he had watched her land her starfighter, he felt a thrill of hope and when she had lifted the canopy and stood up, he had been almost beside himself.But he had quickly pulled himself together.He was not Buck, the human, Wilma’s fiancé, he was Buck, in the form of a creature known for its vicious disposition.**

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**As he pondered that dilemma, new scents came to his over-sensitive nose.It was like smelling himself or rather smelling this creature whose body he inhabited.The tufted hair on the top of his head bristled and the claws came out.Wherever they were, _across the clearing_, his mind and senses immediately supplied, he didn’t think they meant any good at all.**

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**His nose supplied more information.There were six of them, a pack, and they were hungry!Buck stood up, his long, almost sinuous tail swishing angrily of its own volition, and his muscles tensing.Wilma was as yet oblivious to the danger, checking over his body, occasionally glancing his way.**

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**He began trotting off toward the edge of the clearing opposite the spot where he and Wilma had entered.Wilma looked up, startled when he passed by her, but he didn’t have time to try and communicate with her.The other brixtels were near and he couldn’t afford to let them get too close to Wilma.As he approached the underbrush, two brixtels leaped into the clearing, snarling their approach.Challenging him!They were challenging him to back down from their intended prey—what they thought he had claimed as his own.Well, Buck thought, he had claimed them as his own.** ****

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**Buck’s brixtel body began to crouch in the customary form of submission and then as the newcomer came closer, he leaped at the brixtel, claws and teeth bared.There was a short cry of surprise from his opponent and then Buck was upon him.He felt his muscles responding to his need and his claws extended even more as he landed on the other’s back.His momentum drove the brixtel to the ground, spitting and yowling.There were no preliminaries, no holding back.It was fight or die.Buck only hoped that there was enough of the brixtel’s instinctive sense of self-preservation to help him fight.**

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**Buck raked his claws under the other brixtel’s throat and only briefly saw that it was a mortal blow before he pivoted and attacked another brixtel.All five remaining animals were in the clearing now, all wanting to get to the two humans in the middle of the clearing.**

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**The next brixtel was more ready for him, not only realizing that Buck was not a friend, but that he was not going to give up the “prey” without a fight.Claws raked across his flank even as he bowled the female over and sank his teeth into her neck.The brixtel’s death rattle alerted the other beasts.Out of the corner of his eye, Buck noted with great satisfaction, that Wilma was aiming her laser and the flashing ray hit one of the brixtels squarely in the head.Three down, he thought as he turned to face one of the three remaining creatures.Another brixtel dropped almost at his feet, but the other two were upon him before Wilma could nail either one of them.One of the brixtels leaped on his back, claws raking across his ribs; the other grabbed his hind leg in its mouth, the sharp teeth sinking deep into the muscle.**

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**With a howl, Buck slashed at the one behind him, but while it growled ferociously, it didn’t let go.The one on his shoulders continued to maul him with its claws.The pain was intense and Buck felt the blood streaming down his front legs.He had to get rid of the brixtels or they would kill him.Rearing up, Buck fell back, pinning one of the animals underneath him.It screamed and Buck felt its hold loosen.The other brixtel, the one mauling his leg, released him and tried to attack his exposed underbelly.**

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**With a speed he didn’t know existed, Buck gathered his legs beneath him and with claws extended, disemboweled the brixtel attacking him.The other one danced out of reach and then leaped in, its claws catching Buck across the head.The pain was intense and suddenly he could only see out of one eye._Why the hell didn’t Wilma just stun both of them?_**

** **

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_ ** ****

**Leaping to his feet, Buck sent the brixtel flying with a swipe of his paw, combined with a similar powerful hit with his tail.Instantly the creature was back on his feet and charging Buck, who had no choice but to meet the attack head on.Each of them used teeth and claws to great effect, but Buck knew he would soon be unable to continue, feeling his strength waning rapidly.His breath came painfully in great gulping gasps.He had to defeat the brixtel—and quickly.**

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**Ducking under a powerful blow of its paw, Buck slid under the creature’s chest and threw it off its feet with a head butt.Before it could get to its feet, Buck reached in and grabbed the brixtel around the throat, clamping his teeth in a vice-like grip that cut off the creature’s air.He felt claws raking in places where he had already been injured, but he ignored them, keeping the pressure on his antagonist’s throat.Even as he felt the brixtel weakening, he heard the hunting call of more brixtels at the edge of the clearing, those who had deferred to the first pack.**

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**He felt despair warring with exhaustion but Buck knew he had to continue; he had to protect Wilma.As the animal in his grip fell limp, Buck staggered and then turned toward the attacking animals.They saw him and with screeches of triumph, raced toward him.The two forward brixtels dropped from laser fire.Then another and another and suddenly it was over.There were no more brixtels.It was becoming impossible to stand, but Buck slowly turned to face Wilma.**

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**She was standing in the middle of the clearing, laser gun in her hand, staring at him, her eyes wide in amazement, or shock.Even though the pain was incredible, Buck began to slowly walk toward her.Finally, he stopped, unable to take another step. The adrenalin rush was over, his blood was pooling on the ground.Wilma’s figure wavered in his sight and then suddenly everything went black.With a soft hissing sound, he crumpled to the ground.**

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**Wilma gazed at the scene in astonishment, even as she listened for more of the brixtels.That these animals had been after her and Buck was not in doubt and their behavior fit the earlier reports that she had read about brixtels.But the other one, the one that had greeted her at Buck’s starfighter; that one totally astounded her.Its behavior was almost an antithesis of these others.She knew it had been protecting her and Buck.She knew it.But why?While the brixtel puzzled her, she couldn’t worry about that now.Wilma knelt down and checked Buck.He was still deeply unconscious and her closer check confirmed what she had determined earlier.There were no wounds; absolutely nothing to indicate his condition.**

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**Wilma pulled out her communicator and contacted the _Searcher_ and then Hawk.Content that she had done all she could do for Buck and hearing no evidence of any more animals, Wilma approached the wounded brixtel that had been protecting her.She was appalled at its wounds.It was covered with the purplish-red blood of its kind and she knew that most of it was his own.It would die without medical attention.Somehow they had to get the creature aboard the _Searcher_ and try to save it.Wilma heard the whine of Hawk’s starfighter and contacted him, directing him to an area on one side of the clearing she was in.**

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**Before his engines had totally shut down, he had popped the canopy and jumped down from his ship, a first aid kit in hand.“How is he?” Hawk said as he ran toward her.“I heard your order for a medical team.”** ****

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**Wilma nodded, showing him Buck’s still form.“If I was venturing a guess, I would say he’s comatose.”** ****

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**“Not a mark on him,” Hawk said after a quick examination, his voice filled with worried bewilderment.** ****

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**“And there’s this,” she said, pointing toward the injured brixtel, relating what had just happened.**

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**“You are right,” Hawk said when she had finished her narrative.“That is not normal behavior for one of these creatures.”He studied the injured animal and then began applying dressings to staunch the worst of the bleeding.“We cannot leave him here.”** ****

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**Wilma was glad Hawk seemed to agree that the creature needed to be saved.**

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**“This puzzle is one that Dr. Goodfellow would very much like to try and solve,” Hawk said as he continued to administer to the brixtel.**

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**“If the creature stays alive long enough,” Wilma commented.Her communicator buzzed.A brief conversation with the _Searcher_ and she turned back to Hawk.“I would say that Dr. Goodfellow has a puzzle here, too,” she added, indicating Buck.**

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**Hawk nodded.“It is as though he is in some kind of deep trance.”He kneeled down next to his friend and checked him over again.Then he looked up at Wilma.“His heart rate seems to have risen slightly.”** ****

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**“Good.Maybe he’s coming to.”** ****

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**Overhead, the med shuttle slowly descended, landing next to Hawk’s starfighter.Several medical technicians emerged and rushed over to Buck just as he began moaning softly.**

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**“Ah, good,” one of them said.“He’s waking up.”** ****

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**Hawk and Wilma stayed close and when Buck opened his eyes and looked at him, there was no recognition.Fear and anger filled the hazel eyes and before anyone could do or say anything, Buck exploded from the ground, a harsh cry coming from deep within his chest.Later, Wilma would realize that it was only Buck’s lack of coordination that allowed them to gain any control over him at all.He got to his feet and then almost immediately fell down.When Wilma approached and tried to talk to him, he growled and lashed out with his hands.Something had obviously happened to Buck down here, something that at least temporarily, had stripped him of memory—and something else.** ****

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**The med techs finally got a sedative in him, but not before they had all received numerous scratches and bruises.Wilma gazed down at the unconscious man in shock and horror before looking back up at Hawk.“What happened down here?” she breathed.She looked toward the opposite side of the clearing from where the pack of brixtels had come.Her thoughts were in turmoil.**

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**“Could it be something to do with the strange reading I saw on my instruments?” Hawk suggested, slowly, as though not totally sure what he had just witnessed.** ****

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**Wilma gazed at him and then in the direction indicated by the readings she had seen on the way in.“I think so, but we’ll have to check it out carefully.”**

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**“And our first duty is to get Buck back to the _Searcher_,” Hawk added, his face mirroring the anxiety she felt inside.**

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**After seeing the illogical behavior of one of the ship’s higher-ranking officers, it didn’t take much to talk the med crew in also taking aboard the unconscious brixtel.As they watched the small ship lifting off, Wilma could only shake her head.“What happened, Hawk?” she murmured.“What happened?”** ****

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**“I do not know, but we should follow.Perhaps it will not take Dr. Goodfellow long to figure this puzzle out,” the birdman suggested.**

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**Wilma could only nod.She was afraid to say anything for fear that her pent up emotions would find release.With one last look at the unconscious and dead brixtels, she turned back up the path to her starfighter.**


	3. Chapter 3

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**  
**

**“Dream Weaver... I believe you can get me through the night  
Dream Weaver... I believe we can reach the morning light.”**

**  
** ****

**  
**

**  
**

**Dr. Goodfellow was tending to the brixtel, muttering to himself, when Hawk came in.He sighed, knowing the conversation would be similar to that which he had just had with Wilma and before that, the admiral.“Hello, Hawk,” he said simply, barely looking up.**

**  
**

**“How is Buck?” the birdman asked without any preliminaries.** ****

**  
**

**Shaking his head, Goodfellow sighed, then said, “The same.I finally had to put restraints on him to get medical scans.Couldn’t do the brain scan with him sedated.”** ****

**  
**

**“And?”** ****

**  
**

**“No sign of injuries or trauma of any kind,” the doctor replied.**

**  
**

**“And no sign of recognition?”** ****

**  
**

**“None.”** ****

**  
**

**Hawk sighed.“Then what do you propose?”** ****

**  
**

**“Keep watching him.Hope that his brain activity somehow increases,” Goodfellow said, his voice sounding less than hopeful.** ****

**  
**

**“Increases?” Hawk asked, alarmed.He only knew a little about human medicine but knew brain activity was a measure of viability in almost all sentient creatures.At least by the humans’ standards of sentience.No measurable brain activity, little hope of intelligent interaction.** ****

**  
**

**“Buck’s scans show only minimal activity, perhaps that of a non-sentient animal,” Goodfellow explained sadly.He gazed meaningfully at Hawk.“I haven’t told anyone else this, yet, except you, the admiral, and Wilma.”** ****

**  
**

**Hawk could only imagine what effect this news would have had on Wilma.He nodded in understanding.“Do you think it could increase?”** ****

**  
**

**The doctor simply sighed and shook his head.“There are exceptions,” he finally said.“But they are rare.”** ****

**  
**

**“But we must have hope,” Hawk said, gazing intently at the scientist.** ****

**  
**

**“Yes.”There didn’t seem to be much hope in the old human’s voice.**

**  
**

**Looking down at the creature on the table in front of him, Hawk asked, “And the brixtel?”** ****

**  
**

**“Mmm, yes,” Goodfellow murmured.“Just the opposite, I have to admit.”** ****

**  
**

**“What do you mean?” Hawk asked.“Are you saying that the brixtels are more intelligent than any of the previous surveys indicated?”** ****

**  
**

**“This creature sustained many serious injuries.I don’t think I can do anything for it,” Dr. Goodfellow said distractedly, ignoring Hawk’s specific question.** ****

**  
**

**Hawk was astonished.“Doctor Goodfellow, I have seen you heal much more severely injured entities than this.And were you saying that this creature is sentient?”** ****

**  
**

**“I can keep it alive, and perhaps give it some measure of life, but you have to remember that it has to survive in a wild and sometimes very hostile environment.”The old man paused.“He could not survive in the wild.He has lost an eye, lost a great deal of blood, is partially crippled in such a way that I am not sure if it could run fast enough to catch its prey.”He gazed meaningfully at Hawk.** ****

**  
**

**“But it could live with colonists,” Hawk suggested.“You heard Wilma’s report.Whether by fluke or mutation or whatever, this animal was friendly to her and tried to save her and Buck.”**

**  
**

**“Presumably, and the answer to your earlier question is yes.This creature’s brain function scan shows incredible sentience, belying previous reports on brixtels,” Goodfellow finally admitted.** ****

**  
**

**“But the other brixtels behaved exactly as the first science studies reported,” Hawk pointed out.** ****

**  
**

**Goodfellow nodded.“That is the main reason I ran so many tests on this brixtel.He is a mystery.”** ****

**  
**

**“Is there anything I can do to help Buck?” Hawk asked.**

**  
**

**“Perhaps go in and talk to him,” the doctor suggested.“He is heavily sedated, but you never know what might be a key to unlock the mystery.”** ****

**  
**

**“I will do that, Doctor Goodfellow.”**

**  
**

**=============================**

**  
**

**Buck woke to subdued but persistent pain.He felt the grogginess of pain medication but after a while, the foggy tendrils of sleep began to slowly drift away.And with wakefulness came memory, muted and dull, but enough to make sense of what had happened to him.Buck remembered the readings, crazy skewed readings coming from a cave, the entrance overgrown with thick vegetation.He remembered entering, still following the strange readings on his science monitor.He remembered a brief thought of wishing for Twiki and a back of the neck hair-raising moment.There was an eerie glow in the cave, pinkish red, and two yellow pinpoints farther away like animal’s eyes.**

**  
**

**He turned on his flashlight and had a momentary glimpse of various devices before he realized that the two yellow spots were animal’s eyes.A brixtel hiss-snarled and rose to its feet.Buck dropped his monitor and jerked out his laser quickly thumbing it to stun.As the brixtel leapt toward him, he fired and then everything blazed into a world of fire and ice, searing heat one second, painful cold the next and then nothing.**

**  
**

**A transmutation device apparently, Buck thought as he opened his eyes—no, eye, and gazed around him.In his line of sight stood Dr. Goodfellow.He was on the _Searcher_!They had brought him on board.The pain couldn’t dull that flash of hope.Buck heard Hawk and the doctor talking, one sadly listing the injuries this body had sustained and the other speaking of saving the brixtel.His own body was discussed.Apparently Dr. Goodfellow had run quite a few tests on both of them.Naturally there would be less than normal results, Buck thought.Then came Hawk’s suggestion.No!NO!To be trapped in this body, crippled and silent was not an option.He got here on board the ship, there had to be a way to get him back in his own body.But how could that happen when no one knew what had really happened.The key was the cave.Something in that cave.No!The key was in getting Dr. Goodfellow and Hawk to understand that he was in the brixtel.But how to tell them?Somehow Buck had to communicate. But how, he wondered again?How?He let his thoughts drift into a half doze, then he forced himself awake again._Can’t sleep_, he thought.** ****

**  
**

**Buck considered his options.They could use an OEI, like they had when he was on Earth when Hieronymous Fox had pulled his stunt, but still there was the problem of communicating the need for one.He couldn’t talk and he couldn’t hold a pen.Buck didn’t know if he could tap a computer keyboard or even if he could reach one with his injuries.Extending his claws, one at a time, now easy to do since he had figured out this body, he pondered.The pain of even that small movement made him wince and the pain in his leg shot through his body.**

**  
**

**“He is awakening, Doctor,” said Hawk.** ****

**  
**

**“Oh dear, I hope he doesn’t react violently to his surroundings,” Dr. Goodfellow said.“I can only imagine how strange they might seem to a creature used to living in forests and fields.”** ****

**  
**

**Buck forced himself to relax as Dr. Goodfellow leaned forward to look him in the face.He thought of the irony of the doctor’s last statement._How can I get you to understand? _he wondered desperately.He gazed steadily into the doctor’s eyes, willing him to understand, willing him to even think that there was more to this brixtel than just a fluke mutation.He almost laughed.When he had been a kid, his grandfather had told him that cats could give one ideas by just concentrating.Dr. Goodfellow sighed and looked sad.Apparently, thought Buck, there wasn’t enough cat in a brixtel to do what his grandfather and others thought felines could do.** ****

**  
**

**Buck closed his eye and lay his head back down on the table.A claw scraped the edge.It was still out from its protective sheath, probably due to injury.It scraped against the metal again, softly, but Buck felt a tingling.Something he should be figuring out.It was important, but he couldn’t think.Why was the scraping of the claw important?**

**  
**

**“He appears to be in pain,” the doctor said.There was some rustling, like paperwork.**

**  
**

**“Perhaps,” Hawk said, but he didn’t sound totally convinced.He gazed thoughtfully at the brixtel who was, in reality, his first human friend.** ****

**  
**

**Claw.Scrape.It tapped, then scraped the edge of the metal examination table.Tap, tap.**

**  
**

**“Yes, it’s been long enough.I should give our poor patient something so he doesn’t become too agitated from the pain and the strange surroundings,” Goodfellow said.**

**  
**

**Buck heard the doctor’s voice, but concentrated on the tapping claw.Tap, tap, soft scrape.Tapping—tapping.Tapping!_That’s it.__Code!__A code—Morse code!_All pilots had to learn Morse.It was basic in the first year of the Air Force Academy.In case voice communication was out, or they were trapped somewhere, or injured.Buck thought sardonically, _I am certainly trapped—in a body that doesn’t allow me to talk.And I am definitelyinjured._If he could only control his injured leg enough to tap out a message.He concentrated on making the paw do what he wanted it to do._Move!Cooperate! _He curled the thin digits of his front right paw and then relaxed them; he moved the leg more onto the exam table where he could tap to greater effect.Good, he thought, very good.**

**  
**

**“Ah, my friend, you will soon be feeling better,” Doctor Goodfellow said.**

**  
**

**Buck felt the prick of a needle._No!Not now!_Desperately, Buck began tapping, willing his body to cooperate before the pain medicine took effect and knocked him out.Dash, dot, dot, dot.Dot, dot, dash.Dash, dot, dash, dot.Dash, dot, dash.‘Buck.’** ****

**  
**

**Dr. Goodfellow and Hawk stopped talking.Buck felt the sedative taking effect, making his mind sluggish, more sluggish than it already was.Dot, dash, dot, dot.Dot, dot.Dot, dot, dot.Dash.Dot.Dash, dot.‘Listen!’Then he began his name again, but couldn’t continue. Consciousness wavered, just as the two people in front of him wavered.They looked puzzled.He tried again, finally getting his name out again, then having to stop, worn out as well as lethargic.Through the crystalline eye, Buck saw Dr. Goodfellow staring at him curiously.Hawk’s gaze scrutinized him and Buck willed understanding.Hawk turned away and Buck felt despair covering him like the blanket of torpor that the drug was inducing.Slowly his mind darkened and he fell asleep.**

**  
**

**“The poor creature must have been having spasms,” Dr. Goodfellow said sadly after the brixtel fell asleep.**

**  
**

**“If it didn’t seem so fantastic, I might think it was trying to communicate,” Hawk murmured, turning back to the sleeping brixtel.**

**  
**

**“What an intriguing thought,” the doctor said.“But totally impossible.”**

**  
**

**Hawk gazed meaningfully at the human, not understanding how he could entertain such notions after all they had seen in their travels.Indeed, it had been Dr. Goodfellow, as well as Buck who had proposed the idea that there could be other bird people among the stars.“Why?” he finally said.“Rock eagles on Morester have a clicking code.”** ****

**  
**

**“Yes, with their beaks.I have heard of them.”He paused and lightly touched the severely injured brixtel on the shoulder.“But why would there have been only this one creature showing such awareness and intelligence?"** ****

**  
**

**Hawk shook his head.“I do not know, but I think we should consider such a thing within the realm of possibility.”He walked over to the table where Buck lay sedated and strapped to the medical bed.**

**  
**

**Behind him, Dr. Goodfellow nodded.**

**  
**

**================================**

**  
**

**Miru drifted in a fog, much like that at the Cauldron of Visions in her home place in the mountains.But it was a white fog that slowly changed colors.First red, then gray, then darkening to brown and finally back to white.Sometimes she felt a surface under her and then it was as though she was floating.A slight wave of dizziness passed over her and tendrils of pain behind her closed eyelids.Then she heard a tapping.Tap, tap, tap.It varied even as it spoke of cadence.There was a slight whispering of scratching that broke the rhythm of the tapping.But even that held a cadence, a song.Or was it?Miru couldn’t tell, only that it was trying to tell her something.She felt desperate need, a desire that was so strong to be painful.More tapping and more sighing that was light scratching.It was almost like a heartbeat, except that it varied in its pulse.Then there was a plea for understanding._Understand what? _she asked in her mind.What?_Who are you?Where are you? _There was no answer, only more tapping, then it softly began to whisper away, until there was nothing left except the desperate need, the hunger for understanding.Then that, too, was gone.** ****

**  
**

**And she jerked awake to face the muted light of her cabin.Someone on board the ship was in pain, physical pain, and that same someone was in anguish.It was like they were lost and couldn’t find anyone to help them.She lay there for a while, then closed her eyes trying to find whoever it was again.But there was nothing, no answering to her query.**


	4. Chapter 4

**  
**

**The awakening seemed to be a little harder this time.Every muscle felt glued to the bed; his body mired in cement.At least, Buck thought when his mind had cleared a little more, there seemed to be a little less pain.This time, he lay quietly, listening.There were the clicking, whirring, shuffing noises that were normal in the medical facility.There was also the soft murmuring of voices, as though from a distance.He opened his good eye and saw Dr. Goodfellow and Hawk nearby, studying a computer read-out.The imperious voice of Crichton came from the other side of his bed.“I have studied these creatures….”** ****

**  
**

**“You have studied the scientific notes on these creatures,” Dr. Goodfellow said somewhat testily.**

**  
**

**“But what about Buck,” Twiki said plaintively.The ambu-quad was out of Buck’s range of vision.**

**  
**

**“Not now, Twiki,” another voice said.Wilma, Buck identified.He was able to barely see her, almost hidden by Hawk.**

**  
**

**He had to try again.Surely with so many people in the room, someone would understand what he was doing.‘Dot, dot, dot, dot.Dot.Dot, dash.Dot, dash, dot.’Then—‘Dash, dash.Dot.’_Hear me!_It was exhausting.Hard taps, soft taps; it was hard to separate them for understanding.Buck stopped a few minutes to muster a little energy.Then he continued.‘Dot, dot, dot.Dash, dash, dash.Dot, dot, dot.’_SOS._Tap, tap, tap.Tap, tap, tap.It was difficult.Sometimes the light taps turned into a slight scratching sound when he was too tired to pick up the claw.Tap, tap, tap.Several times.Then he signaled his name.Again, he stopped.Everyone in the room was silent; all were watching him.Wilma was in his eyesight and appeared puzzled.**

**  
**

**Then he continued.‘Dash, dot, dot, dot.Dot, dot, dash.Dash, dot, dash, dot.Dash, dot, dash.’His name.Hawk was studying him carefully, even more than he had the last time he had been awake.**

**  
**

**Dr. Goodfellow also concentrated on him for a moment before turning to Crichton.“Can you determine what kind of code this is?”** ****

**  
**

**The robot raised his arms to his side in a movement that signaled his annoyance at being bothered by something so trivial, but he said nothing for a moment.He huffed and then spoke.“I have been programmed with several thousand codes and languages, but this is not one of them,” he said.** ****

**  
**

**“I know what some of that was,” Twiki piped.**

**  
**

**“What?” several people said at once, their voices registering obvious surprise.** ****

**  
**

**Twiki beeped, but before he could say anything, Crichton commented haughtily.“You are not nearly as sophisticated as I am.How could you know the code of an obscure species on an uninhabited planet?”** ****

**  
**

**“Because it’s not a code of an obscure species on an uninhabited planet,” Twiki said irritably.To Buck’s mind the ambu-quad looked ready to kick the larger robot. _Do it, _he prompted, with sarcastic humor.“Some of that was called ‘S.O.S.’,” Twiki added.** ****

**  
**

**“S.O.S.?” Wilma asked gently, although there was a hint of impatience in her voice.“Where did you learn it?Where is it from?”Then before Twiki could say anything, she gasped.“From Buck!”** ****

**  
**

**“Exactly, Colonel Deering,” Twiki replied.** ****

**  
**

**“Somehow, this creature learned it from Buck before his accident, or whatever happened,” Wilma said.She gazed at Twiki.“Do you know more?”** ****

**  
**

**“Buck called it Morse code and I know there is more, but he only started teaching me and never finished,” the little robot said, and then paused.After a second’s silence, he beeped in surprise.“That last was Buck’s name!”** ****

**  
**

**“What?” asked Dr. Goodfellow.** ****

**  
**

**Twiki repeated some of the brixtel’s taps and scratching dashes.“That spells ‘Buck’ in Morse code.”** ****

**  
**

**Buck tried to raise up, but his injuries and a pair of soft restraints prevented him from doing more than raising his head.Somehow he had to communicate his plight.He remembered beginning to teach Twiki.Maybe they could take that and add to what he was trying to do.‘Dot, dash- A.’Dash, dot, dot, dot- B.’Dash, dot, dash, dot- C.’** ****

**  
**

**“A, B, C,” Twiki translated.** ****

**  
**

**‘Dash, dot, dot- D.’‘Dot- E.’Dot, dot, dash, dot- F,’ Buck continued.**

**  
**

**“D,” Twiki began, then stopped.“I don’t know the other two.”Then he beeped as Hawk stared at the injured brixtel.** ****

**  
**

**“I am assuming that this code uses a combination of distinct and non-distinct taps for each letter of the human alphabet?” the birdman asked.**

**  
**

**“Yes,” Twiki replied.“Buck said the longer taps were dots and the pauses or sometimes softer taps were dashes used in different combinations to make letters, which were put together to make words.”Then the ambu-quad waved his arm and beeped.“He’s teaching us the alphabet!”** ****

**  
**

**“I believe you are right,” Dr. Goodfellow said thoughtfully.“I only hope he has the strength to do so.”** ****

**  
**

**Buck did, too, as he continued to tap out the letters.The rests between each letter became longer and longer, but he persisted until the last letter, then with a sigh he fell asleep.** ****

**  
**

**Dr. Goodfellow looked over the notes a med tech had taken down on the computer.“Twiki, would you listen to the first coded message?We have been recording everything that has happened since the brixtel was first brought in here.” **

**  
**

**“Of course, Doctor,” Twiki replied promptly.**

**  
**

**Dr. Goodfellow gave instructions to the tech at the terminal and soon a recording of the code was repeating in the medical bay.**

**  
**

**“The first thing was ‘hear me.’Then he taped an S.O.S. and he taped out Buck’s name.”** ****

**  
**

**“What’s S.O.S.?” Wilma asked.** ****

**  
**

**“Buck told me it was a universal distress signal, a call for help that was used almost exclusively in the late nineteenth century and most of twentieth century,” responded Twiki.**

**  
**

**“Then he did get it from Buck.But how?” Wilma asked, perplexed.** ****

**  
**

**“Dr. Goodfellow?” Hawk began from across the room.“Can you give me the password to Buck’s medical records?”** ****

**  
**

**“Yes, but why?” Goodfellow asked.** ****

**  
**

**“I cannot exactly say why, but I suppose it would be what Buck would call a hunch.”** ****

**  
**

**“Of course, you can, dear boy, of course,” the old scientist said, typing in a string of symbols into the computer.“We don’t have much else to grasp at.”** ****

**  
**

**“And is there something you can give the brixtel to help it stay more lucid?” Hawk added.“Somehow, I feel it will be the key to this entire mystery.”** ****

**  
**

**“Yes, I believe the treatment can be increased to compensate for its increased activity.”** ****

**  
**

**Wilma stood nearby watching both men, feeling sad and confused.Glancing over her shoulder at the sedated and non-responsive Buck only increased those feelings._What happened down there? _she wondered for the hundredth time.The solution had to be in that strange area and those equally strange readings.“Let me know what you find out.I’m going down below to check out those anomalous readings.”** ****

**  
**

**“Is that wise?” Hawk asked, his eyes flicking to Buck’s still form in the bed across the room.** ****

**  
**

**Wilma felt anger flare and then she squelched it.Hawk was only concerned about her safety in light of what happened to Buck.“Maybe not, but I will be careful and won’t do anything foolish.”** ****

**  
**

**“Please stay in close communication,” Hawk urged.**

**  
**

**Wilma smiled.“I will, Hawk.And I will be careful.”** ****

**  
**

**As she left, Hawk turned back to the screen.He ignored his surroundings, studying Buck’s medical records of the past three years, since the time of his awakening in this century.Of particular note were the scans taken at that time.He compared them to the scans that Dr. Goodfellow had recently ordered and felt despair, but he pushed them aside, wanting to follow his ‘hunch’.He studied the brixtel’s scans as he heard the creature behind him begin slowly tapping again.As Hawk saw the two scans, Buck’s almost three-year-old ones and the new ones of the brixtel, he almost gasped in shock.He studied them again, to make sure he had been seeing everything correctly.“Doctor Goodfellow,” Hawk said, still staring at the screen.There was no answer.It was then he realized that Twiki had been talking, too.“Dr. Goodfellow,” he said louder.**

**  
**

**The scientist was staring at the now awake brixtel, then he leaned forward and released the creature’s restraints.Hawk got up and walked over to the table where the injured creature lay.**

**  
**

**“It is totally unbelievable, totally unbelievable,” Dr. Goodfellow muttered.**

**  
**

**“That Buck’s mind is somehow in this creature’s body?” Hawk asked.**

**  
**

**“Yes.”Dr. Goodfellow looked at Hawk and then at the med console Hawk had been using.“And that is where you came to your conclusion?”** ****

**  
**

**“Yes, Doctor.The scans for Buck when he was first awakened and for the brixtel here are almost identical.”** ****

**  
**

**The brixtel/Buck was looking at them.He tapped out a quick code, which Twiki translated with an amused beep.“’Bout time.”** ****

**  
**

**Hawk smiled softly.**

**  
**

**“Transmutation.But how?” Dr. Goodfellow asked to no one in particular.**

**  
**

**Buck sighed.‘Do not remember,’ he tapped.After a moment of rest, he added, “OEI.”** ****

**  
**

**Hawk nodded.“Yes, not only would that help find out what happened, but it would be much simpler and easier for you than tapping out a code,” Hawk said to Buck.** ****

**  
**

**“But an OEI can be hard on an individual as well,” Dr. Goodfellow warned.** ****

**  
**

**Now that Hawk knew what to look for, he thought he could read what was on Buck’s mind.The crystalline eye showed a bit of humor along with impatient desire.There was another tapped message.‘OEI.’It seemed more emphatic somehow.** ****

**  
**

**Dr. Goodfellow nodded and turned to get the apparatus.** ****

**  
**

**Hawk gazed at Buck and then smiled softly.“I suppose the OEI will tell us how this strange dilemma you are in came about, but I cannot help but wonder at your propensity for getting into these situations.”** ****

**  
**

**Buck just gazed at the birdman for a moment, then he began tapping. “Ha, ha,” and then, “Getting out is important.”** ****

**  
**

**“Yes, indeed it is,” Hawk concurred.**

**  
**

**Buck struggled to a sitting position and then waited quietly to regain some measure of equilibrium.Hawk was next to the side of the medical bed, watching him closely.Feeling much better than he had when he had first awakened, Buck still felt extremely weak.**

**  
**

**Dr. Goodfellow walked over with the smallest OEI device he had and placed it on Buck’s head, adjusting it so that it would fit somewhat comfortably in a brixtel head.It was still so large, though, that it almost totally obscured Buck’s vision.“This is the best I can do, my boy,” he said.** ****

**  
**

**Buck tapped out a message and Twiki translated.“It’s okay.”** ****

**  
**

**Dr. Goodfellow began the session, asking questions and recording the memories.Admiral Asimov came in near the beginning of the session and watched quietly, only occasionally asking questions.Hawk continued to stand near Buck, watching his friend as much as he was watching the memories. Then he remembered where Wilma said she was going.Before anyone could say anything, he had rushed to a communications console and punched the buttons.“Contact Colonel Deering and tell her not to go into the cave!”** ****

**  
**

**“Why?” the voice at the other end asked.** ****

**  
**

**Asimov was next to Hawk in an instant.“Don’t ask why, just contact her and tell her.My orders.I will explain in detail later.Just tell her she’s in great danger if she goes into that cave!” he shouted into the intercom.**

**  
**

**“Yessir,” the voice answered contritely.** ****

**  
**

**Within a few minutes, the comm. tech came back with another query.“Col. Deering wants to know what you would like her to do.”** ****

**  
**

**“Let me speak to her directly,” Asimov ordered, his voice calm.When Wilma’s voice came on the comm., Asimov was spare in his explanation.“You need to return to _Searcher._We have discovered some information that not only makes venturing into that cave extremely dangerous, but information that you will be very much interested in.”** ****

**  
**

**Exasperation was heavy in Wilma’s voice.“But I was already in there.”** ****

**  
**

**“Then you are lucky we called you in time, Colonel,” Asimov replied.“We will explain when you return.”His voice softened.“And we have some very good news for you here.”He smiled as he cut the communications.**

**  
**

**With a relieved sigh, Hawk returned to Buck’s bed.“I do not know just how this change can be reversed, but somehow it will be.”Buck nodded, lying back down.**


	5. Chapter 5

**  
**

**“Is there anything else you can remember, Buck?” Dr. Goodfellow asked.The OEI remained dark.The doctor took the device off and patted the brixtel on the shoulder.“You rest now.I am going to give you another supplement, as well as something for the pain and when you wake up, you should be feeling stronger.”** ****

**  
**

**Again Buck nodded and lay his head down.He felt the relief that they knew who he was wash over him, draining most of the remaining anxiety out of his system.There was only one thing that still nagged him, though—Could the transmutation be reversed?And what if it couldn’t?The slight stabs of panic, though, were countered, not only by the assurance that Dr. Goodfellow was now working hard to find the solution, but also by the pain medication that lulled him into renewed lethargy.Buck soon found himself drifting off to sleep, the fleeting but disturbing pictures of him trying to date Wilma in a brixtel’s body dissipating rapidly.**

**  
**

**The next morning, Buck did indeed wake up feeling better.While there was still pain, he felt less of the lethargy that had gripped him so fiercely the day before.A gentle hand was stroking his body and he opened his good eye to see Wilma standing over him.Ignoring the momentary irritation that he was unable to talk to her, he began tapping.‘Hi, Wilma,’ he said.He continued even though he couldn’t see Twiki anywhere within his range of vision, ‘I hope you are imagining me as I was while you were doing that.’It took him a long time to get the message out and Wilma’s brows furrowed in concentration.Apparently she had studied the code when she had returned to _Searcher. _Wilma occasionally glanced at a nearby computer console, which Buck assumed provided translation.After perusing the translation of his last sentence, she shot a somewhat irritated look, which changed quickly to bemused appreciation, even as her cheeks flushed bright pink.**

**  
**

**“As a matter of fact…” she said, smiling and deliberately leaving the sentence unfinished.**

**  
**

**Throughout the exchange, she continued to rub her fingers gently along his spine.Buck felt a thrill at her touch that was not in the least diminished by the fact that he was in a body that slightly resembled a very large housecat, if housecats were crossed with Chinese dragons.‘I’ll remember that,’ he retorted, ‘when Dr. Goodfellow figures this all out and gets me and the brixtel in order.’Wilma laughed and Buck felt another thrill.This time, though, he clamped down on his emotions, knowing that until Dr. Goodfellow, Crichton and doctor’s team of scientists could find the remedy to his problem, there could be no thought of any kind of amorous relationship.He sighed and closed his eye.**

**  
**

**“Buck?” Wilma asked, her voice sounding concerned.“Buck?”** ****

**  
**

**He opened his eye again and gazed at her.Her smile was gone and her eyes looked sad.Buck rose up on his haunches to see her more eye to eye.He put a paw on her hand, gently, with the claws retracted, to reassure her.In all honesty, he felt he needed some reassurance himself.Suddenly, he felt the doubts rush in.Would they be able to figure out how what happened?More importantly, would they be able to reverse it?He looked into Wilma’s eyes.Through the brixtel’s eye, she seemed to sparkle with some diamond-studded highlight or aura.He couldn’t explain it, but somehow it comforted him.Buck tapped another message—‘It’s OK.’** ****

**  
**

**Wilma smiled and placed her other hand on top of his.“I know,” she said softly.Then she began to smile again.“What do you do for an encore?”** ****

**  
**

**Buck blinked and grinned his response, although he figured it was more frightening than funny.** ****

**  
**

**Wilma stared back at him and then asked.“Were you smiling?If so, you might want to find an alternative form of expression.”** ****

**  
**

**Buck nodded.He suddenly felt restless, even though he was still in some pain and feeling weak.Calculating the distance from the medical bed to the floor, he took a deep breath, debating his ability to make the jump without further damaging his borrowed body.He gazed longingly at the computer console.It would be so much easier to communicate that way, even if Wilma had learned Morse code.** ****

**  
**

**“Buck, if you’re contemplating what I think you’re contemplating, you’re too badly injured,” Wilma said reprovingly.“Wait and I’ll….”** ****

**  
**

**Before she had finished, Buck had jumped off the table.A sharp pain shot up his left front leg and he couldn’t put weight on one back leg, but after pausing a moment to let the throbbing and light-headedness ease, he looked up a Wilma and nodded.**

**  
**

**“You okay?” she asked.She had knelt down beside him and had her hand on his shoulder to steady him.**

**  
**

**He nodded again and then limped over to the console.Buck cocked his head slightly to study it with his good eye.**

**  
**

**Wilma understood what he wanted now and she lowered the chair to allow him to climb up with little effort and then she raised it to put him level with the keyboard.He studied it for a moment, before extending one claw to begin tapping.“Have they figured out what caused this?” he asked.**

**  
**

**Wilma shook her head.“No, but Hawk took Twiki, Crichton and Dr. Goodfellow down to that cave to study what’s in there.They’re hoping it won’t take too long to figure out what happened when you went in there.”** ****

**  
**

**Buck nodded.“Thanks,” he typed.**

**  
**

**Wilma laid her hand on his back.“They’ll figure out how to reverse this,” she said with great conviction.** ****

**  
**

**Buck hesitated before typing in another message.How would he deal with this for the rest of his life if they couldn’t?Could he?To not be able to talk to his friends, to fly a starfighter, to write, to laugh….Buck pulled himself from those morose thoughts and typed, ‘I sincerely hope so.’** ****

**  
**

**“I know so,” Wilma reassured him.“And even if they don’t…”**

**“I will not consider a don’t,’ Buck retorted on the keyboard.‘There will not be a don’t.If they can’t reverse this….’He couldn’t continue.His body was shaking with the intense fear that such a thought had brought crashing into his brain.**

**  
**

**“Buck, please.Hear me out,” Wilma said, swinging his chair around so that he could face her.Gazing into each other’s eyes, Buck saw a ferocity of the love that he knew she felt for him.With it, though, was fear.“Buck Rogers, I think I have told you this before.That time when you were fighting the garox.I fell in love with what’s inside.Yeah, I enjoyed looking at the outer you, too.What’s not to enjoy, but you are made up of the sum of your spirit and your soul, the inner part that came to me from five hundred years in the past and bonded to me, accepted me and drew close to me in this century.That spirit has sustained you through your losses and through the pain.You remember what Dr. Huer told you after you repulsed the first Draconian onslaught?”Buck nodded.“You have survived that.You have gone beyond that and become so much more.You still are and you can’t imagine how much I admire and respect that.If I had gone through half what you’ve gone through, I’d be….”**

**  
**

**It was there that Buck reached out a paw and lightly caressed her cheek.Wilma was almost babbling in her determination to keep him from plummeting into the depths of depression.And to keep herself from crying.She had done it before and as with the times before, it wasn’t necessarily the words she spoke, but the person, the sentiment behind those words that gave Buck comfort and calmed his troubled spirit.She said nothing, but he saw tears brimming in her eyes.He didn’t think he could stand that right now.He continued to caress her cheek, amazed at the control that he was gaining over this strange body.Finally, Buck stopped when Wilma took his paw and with her other hand, did the same along his muzzle, beginning below the damaged eye and all the way down his jaw line.For a few minutes, they just gazed at one another, doing nothing, saying nothing.** ****

**  
**

**Buck rested in the chair a short while and then slid to the floor, still tired but also restless.Wilma had given him a bit of reassurance, and he was deeply touched by her devotion.He found himself pacing, unable to relax.The tips of his claws made an off pattern staccato as he limped across the floor.He kept telling himself that the scientists would be able to take care of this problem, but his mind kept shoving pictures and thoughts of him forever in the body of a brixtel.Despite her motions of affection, having Wilma there didn’t help much right now.He humorlessly thought of all the lip-locks he would miss, and how in the world could you cuddle when you looked like something that wanted to eat a human for dinner?** ****

**  
**

**“Buck,” Wilma broke into his pacing, this time her voice no nonsense.“Dr. Goodfellow exacted a promise from me to make you rest.He said, and I agree, that you will do yourself no good if you wear this brixtel body out.”She held her gaze steady as he turned and glared at her.“He even left something to help you heal faster.”** ****

**  
**

**Even though he didn’t like it, Buck saw the wisdom in Dr. Goodfellow’s instructions.As if on cue, Nurse Paulson strode in with a tray in her hand and gazed at him reprovingly.“You certainly have a knack for getting into trouble,” she said with a slight smile.** ****

**  
**

**Irritated, Buck clambered back into the computer chair and typed out a response.‘And you have a knack for understatement.Ha, ha.’He saw the medicines on the tray and typed, ‘Can I at least rest in my own cabin?’** ****

**  
**

**Both women looked at each other and then Paulton said, “Do you think you can walk that far?”** ****

**  
**

**Buck typed a terse note. ‘It’s not that far.’**

**  
**

**“Then I don’t see why not, if you promise to take the medication and rest as soon as you get there,” Paulton said after a moment’s thought.** ****

**  
**

**“I’ll accompany you, Buck,” Wilma said.Paulson gave instructions on taking the medicines and then handed them to Wilma.**

**  
**

**Ignoring the twinge in his shoulder and back leg, Buck slid out of the chair and limped to the door.It didn’t acknowledge him.Irritated, Buck waited for Wilma.It opened to her immediately.That didn’t help his mood at all.They walked out into the corridor and turned toward the senior officer’s quarters.“Let me know if you can’t go the distance, Buck,” Wilma said solicitously.**

**Buck chose to ignore her remark.He limped at her side, staying close to give others room to go by.He needn’t have bothered.Most of the crewmen, when they saw him, stared at him and then gave him as much room as they could.That, Buck understood.A brixtel was a fearsome creature, even to those unfamiliar to the species.A jolt of pure contrariness swept through him, and Buck had to repress the urge to ‘grin’ at them.Worse, though, were those crewmen who apparently knew the scuttlebutt and talked to him pityingly.Or rather talked to Wilma about him in their solicitous tones._I am right here! _he shouted mentally._I still have my mind, even if I don’t have my voice!_He wished they were at his cabin so he could avoid all this.And then, with a huffing sigh, Buck realized that his present mood was self-defeating and served no discernible purpose.**

**  
**

**Wilma looked down at him and seemed to understand his dark countenance for what it was.“Lieutenant, if you wish to say something to Captain Rogers, please do so.He may not be able to answer, but he can easily hear you,” she said sweetly.**

**  
**

**The young lieutenant blushed in embarrassment and looked down at Buck.“Uh, Captain, I, uh, just wanted to let you know that I hope, uh, well, I hope you will be better soon.”** ****

**  
**

**Again, Buck felt a tinge of annoyance, but shoved it aside.He nodded his thanks to the crewmember.She hurried down the hall.**

**  
**

**“I would have grinned at her, if I had been you,” Wilma said out of the side of her mouth.**

**  
**

**Buck gaped at her in surprise.That was something that he would have expected from any number of people, but not Wilma.Suddenly the humor of that moment caught up with him and he barked/yowled in laughter, his grin even toothier than it had been in the medical bay.He saw the startled looks of a couple more crewmen just crossing the corridor in front of them and that added to his sense of enjoyment.Well, he thought, if he was stuck in this situation for a while, he might as well get the most of it.They soon arrived at his cabin.Again, it wouldn’t open for him, but readily did so for Wilma.They slipped inside.**

**  
**

**But while the cabin was better than the medical facility, and certainly more comfortable, Buck still felt unsettled.Things he took for granted were not available to him now.The small kitchenette was inaccessible as was the means to take a shower.His books and recordings were out of reach as well, even if he could handle the discs and the remote that ran his sound machine.He remembered a story about a cat that liked to get on the shelf and knock down books for his owner to read to him, but that cat was considerably smaller than him and easily able to stand on a row of books on a shelf.With a sigh he settled on the bed and let the meds take effect.**

**  
**

**Hawk and Wilma alternated their planet-side duties, and consequently, their visits with him but finally there came a time when Buck wanted to do something alone.He felt as though he was being baby-sat and he resented it.And worse was the feeling of being a prisoner.In a way, he thought, he was.He was a prisoner in this body.Continually, Buck was pushing aside the thoughts that he might forever be stuck in this body.The brixtel’s body was still recovering, at least as far as it could.The injured eye was irreparable; one leg would always have at least a slight limp.There would always be scars all over this body.Buck hoped that the brixtel was less critical than he was when the transmutation was reversed.**

**  
**

**By the end of the second week, Buck decided to wander the corridors.He didn’t want to wait for visitors, but wasn’t sure if his back legs could support him standing to reach for the door panel.On the first try, he realized that they wouldn’t.The leg that the med techs had been working on in therapy the past couple of days would have to be operated on, he had been told. There had been extensive muscle damage.Buck had balked, waiting on Dr. Goodfellow’s findings planet-side.There was a small part of his mind that told him he was being unfair to the brixtel, but he, the part that was Buck, didn’t want to be incapacitated in the event that some decision had to be made.The brixtel could be sedated and worked on later.**

**  
**

**Even as he sat in front of the door, frustrated, it suddenly opened and Miru stood before him.Buck had not seen her since his return to the ship and he had wondered a time or two, why not.He could only come to the conclusion that she had been uncomfortable with his ‘change.’**


	6. Chapter 6

**  
**

**“May I come in, Captain Rogers?” she asked in the Tane-rapanui language.He nodded and she entered, the door sliding shut behind her.She seemed almost shy, which bore out Buck’s suspicion.“I meant to come earlier,” she said softly after a moment’s silence.**

**  
**

**Buck limped to the computer console and she followed.‘You have been busy with your studies.’** ****

**  
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**“But too busy for friends?” she asked in a suddenly self-recriminating fashion.She didn’t say any more for a while, only gazed at him.Now there was a sad look on her face and her eyes became misty, as with tears.** ****

**  
**

**He typed again, irritation welling up inside.He had enough of his own pity to have someone else laying more on him.‘Did you come in just to feel sorry for me?”**

**  
**

**“I, uh, I’m sorry, Captain Rogers,” she said in a quiet voice.“I am very sorry this happened to you, but I came because you are a . . . friend.”** ****

**  
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**Buck sighed.He typed again.Miru waited patiently.“I am sorry for being so irritable.”** ****

**  
**

**“You have every right to be, Captain.This cannot be easy,” Miru assured him.“I have felt the stirrings of dreams.”** ****

**  
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**‘About me?’ he typed.** ****

**  
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**“Yes, but nothing specific.Nothing I can interpret.”She shook her head.“It is frustrating.”** ****

**  
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**Buck gazed at her for a moment and then typed, ‘That’s okay.Don’t worry about it.’** ****

**  
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**“But I do, Captain.I would hope that my dreams would help find a solution to this problem.”** ****

**  
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**‘Miru, please, just call me Buck,’ he typed.** ****

**  
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**“You are not kin and you are an adult.I cannot use familiar names until I am an adult, too.”** ****

**  
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**‘I might as well be kin,’ he replied.‘Like an uncle or something.’** ****

**  
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**Miru suddenly smiled.“Very well, Atu-ai.”Then she laughed and all the tension in the room melted away.**

**  
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**Buck put a smile symbol on his computer screen.‘Thanks,’ he typed, feeling appreciation for her usage of the familial “uncle” term.**

**  
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**“Would you like to go outside of your cabin?” she asked.“I will be happy to accompany you.”** ****

**  
**

**Buck thought a bit.He had been ready to venture out on his own, but now that the opportunity had opened itself up to him, he wondered if it would be a good idea.He was getting tired of staying cooped up, but he also didn’t want to be shot on sight.And he didn’t want everyone who knew him to feel he needed to be ‘nurse-maided’, either.Finally, he nodded.With Miru to accompany him, it would be much easier to explain his presence._Easier?Ha, it would be possible, period, _he thought.Of course, it wouldn’t be necessary if the admiral had already told everyone, he thought wryly.**

**  
**

**They walked out into the corridor and headed toward the observation room.Buck felt his leg joints pop a couple of times, but otherwise, he moved easily enough.The observation room door slid open and they walked into the large room side by side.As they passed by one of the large windows, Buck saw himself much more completely than he had even in his cabin.The scars, only beginning to heal, crisscrossed his body, and the eye, with its bandage, made him look like some bristle-furred pirate.He stared at himself for a moment and then mentally shrugged and followed Miru.She sat down on a couch and patted the empty seat next to her.Buck climbed up and sat down. **

**  
**

**“I have memorized the code,” she said with a slight smile.** ****

**  
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**Buck nodded and then tapped on the faux leather.It took him a while to do it.“It’s not good for your reputation to be seen in the company of riff-raff like me,” he quipped, sporting a toothy grin.**

**  
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**Miru’s smile widened for a brief moment and then it faded slightly.“I don’t think I could be considered less strange if I avoided you.”** ****

**  
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**It sounded jovial enough but Buck thought he detected a hint of sadness in her voice.He studied her a moment before tapping another message.‘Is anyone giving you a hard time?’ he asked, laying a paw on her leg.** ****

**  
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**“Hard time?” she asked, puzzled.Then she shook her head.“If by that you mean is anyone treating me badly—no, no one has said or done anything to me.”She paused and looked out at the star field beyond the observation window.**

**  
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**Buck tapped another message.‘But you feel . . . out of place.’She said nothing for several minutes and Buck began to think that maybe he had dug too deeply.** ****

**  
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**“Yes, Atu-ai,” Miru said quietly.She gazed at him and then laid her hand on his back.“Bu you know about that, don’t you?”** ****

**  
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**Buck nodded.Indeed, he did.There were no words he could say.With soft gentleness, he laid a paw on her other hand.**

**  
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**She looked at his scarred paw for a moment and then said, “We are related in that, if nothing else.”They sat quietly for a moment, neither moving.Suddenly Miru took a sharp intake of breath.**

**  
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**Buck gently extricated himself from her touch and then tapped out a question.‘What is it?Are you all right?’** ****

**  
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**She looked at him in alarm for a moment.Her eyes lost their frightened look before she answered.“I saw darkness and confusion, a swirling maelstrom of lights and places I’ve never seen before, although a few were like scenes I had seen when you were in the mountains during your trial of adoption.”Then she smiled.“But I also saw you as you are supposed to be, so we can only assume that Dr. Goodfellow must figure out the solution to your dilemma.”**

**There was a short burst of hope in his chest.Buck tapped again, even as he wondered about the first part of this vision of hers.It was too much to tap in all his questions, at least until they could get to a computer, so he just asked, “Really?”**

**  
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**Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden metallic jangle of the intercom.“Will Captain Rogers please report to the bridge?”** ****

**  
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**Buck looked up in surprise, wondering what could have induced the Admiral to invite him, in his present condition, to the bridge.No matter, he thought as he stretched and then slid off the seat.** ****

**  
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**“Perhaps I should accompany you?” Miru suggested.Buck nodded and soon they were in the turbo lift.When the doors opened and Buck stepped out, he was met by the surprised stares of a couple of the bridge crew members, Devlin included.Wilma was on the other side of the communications console, looking rather smug.It seemed that if Asimov had told them, they hadn’t truly believed him until now.With Miru right behind him, Buck limped to the communications panel and climbed into the chair.‘What’s the matter, Devlin?Never see me in a . . . uh, fur coat before?’ he typed.** ****

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**The lieutenant stared another minute or two before he broke into a broad grin.“Captain, when I signed on, they told me I would see some strange things but you know I don’t think anything has been stranger than the predicament you’ve gotten yourself into this time.”** ****

**  
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**Buck couldn’t help it, he broke into laughter, except it didn’t come out as laughter; it was more of a yowl bark that could have sounded sinister had the bridge crew not known what was going on.He typed into the computer again.“You didn’t see me after I got back from Arcadis, did you?” he asked, referring to his run-in with Pangor, the satyr.** ****

**  
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**Devlin just grinned.**

**  
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**Wilma walked over to him and laid a hand on his back.“Dr. Goodfellow thinks that he may be able to reverse what happened to you down there.”** ****

**  
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**Buck sat up straighter, looking hopeful.‘Let’s go!’ he typed.** ****

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**“Wait a minute,” Wilma responded quickly.“Dr. Goodfellow, Dr. Devlin and the robots have been working feverishly and that cave is filled with more dangerous gadgets and safeguards than they could count.They are pretty sure they have isolated the device that caused the switch, but….”Her voice trailed off.** ****

**  
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**‘They aren’t one hundred percent sure,’ Buck filled in.** ****

**  
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**“No, they aren’t and you could very easily be killed.”Her eyes held an anxious, almost desperate look, fear for him that Buck chose to ignore at present.** ****

**  
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**‘Any risk is better than staying like this,’ Buck retorted, adding a symbol on the screen to emphasize his frustration.He gazed meaningfully at her with his one good eye.The multi-colored aural highlights were emphasized in the brighter lights on the bridge.Forgetting he was in a room full of people, Buck added, ‘What kind of relationship is this if I stay in this body for the rest of my life?’** ****

**  
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**“You would be alive,” Wilma said softly.** ****

**  
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**Buck snorted, but didn’t type anything at the moment.He didn’t have to, he realized suddenly, looking around.It was obvious to all the onlookers, including the admiral, how he felt.Finally, though, Buck decided to make himself perfectly clear.‘No.I will take whatever risks Dr. Goodfellow says are necessary to reverse this.’** ****

**  
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**Wilma nodded.“I figured you’d say that.”She smiled, but didn’t look totally happy.** ****

**  
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**‘Then let’s go down,’ he typed emphatically.‘With your permission, Admiral.’** ****

**  
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**“Granted,” the admiral said, then added, “Good luck.”** ****

**  
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**Buck nodded and slipped down from his chair.Other crew members added their wishes for his success as he left with Wilma and Miru.As they walked down the corridors, Wilma outlined what had been discovered thus far. “You evidently followed the signals into the cave where you encountered the brixtel, whose body you now inhabit.It attacked and you fired your laser at it.Stun, of course.”**

**  
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**Buck nodded.That was pretty much the extent of his half-remembered recollections.** ****

**  
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**“Dr. Goodfellow conjectures that your laser activated a device that caused the transfer.He is still not sure how that occurred, only that it did.Crichton is against any use of the device until experimentation has been done, but surprisingly, Twiki was vehemently opposed to this kind of delay.”** ****

**  
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**Buck wasn’t surprised.For an ambuquad, Twiki knew him well and had an uncanny knack for figuring him out.**

**  
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**Wilma continued.“Dr. Goodfellow and Dr. Devlin agreed.They are worried about the possible deterioration that could be occurring by the brixtel inhabiting your body.”** ****

**  
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**Again Buck nodded, wanting nothing more than to be back in his own home, so to speak.He would have to thank Twiki for his support later.**

**  
**

**They reached the hangar bay within a relatively short time and stopped at a fighter’s wing tip.Wilma turned to Miru.“You will have to stay here,” she said soothingly, knowing that the Tane-rapanui girl wanted to go planet side with them.“Hawk insisted.”** ****

**  
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**Miru frowned.She had hoped to go down, maybe help, but she wasn’t surprised that she couldn’t.She sighed, wondering if she was ever going to be grown up enough to be included in any missions, especially when they included those near her.**

**  
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**“We will let you know what’s going on as soon as it happens,” Wilma promised.**

**  
**

**Miru nodded and turned to Buck.“Atu-ai,” she began, then faltered.“I . . . uh, . . . be careful, please,” she finally said.**

**  
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**Buck could see that something was troubling her, but he couldn’t ask and right now he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.He reached up, rubbed her hand to reassure her and she smiled softly.**

**  
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**“We’d better get down there, Buck,” Wilma said, laying her hand on his shoulder.**

**  
**

**Buck growled a soft assent and followed her to a nearby shuttled.A med tech, Brennan, Buck noted, two lieutenants, Marley and Joshen, where already on board along with—himself.Buck swallowed and studied his body for a moment before climbing into a passenger’s couch.It was disconcerting seeing himself lying there.It had been two weeks since he had done so and he was shocked to see that his body seemed somewhat wasted; pale and sallow.No wonder Dr. Goodfellow had wanted to try the reverse transmutation before he was totally sure of the results.**

**  
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**Whatever the result, he was glad the doctors weren’t waiting.Something had to be done—and soon.Buck curled as compactly as he could in the chair and nodded to everyone.He tried to calm himself, but it was very difficult.After seeing that he had found a seat, Wilma headed front and settled herself into the pilot’s chair.He watched her slim form appreciatively and hoped again that this ‘experiment’ would have the desired results.Necking was pretty much impossible when you had the incisors of a grizzly bear, he thought morosely.Then the distinct possibility of failure passed through his thoughts and he felt tendrils of panic creep through his mind._Enough_!That was something that Buck had been fighting for the entire time he had been in this predicament.He had beaten the garox, he had beaten the impossibility of even being here in this century and he certainly was going to beat this problem.** ****

**  
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	7. Chapter 7

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**It didn’t take long to reach the same clearing where he had landed the first time, two weeks ago and Buck waited for the crewmen to carry his still body from the craft.Then he and Wilma walked down the shuttle’s ramp, side by side.As they strode through the forest, Wilma walked ahead of the small group, while Buck brought up the rear.Buck tuned his borrowed body to any extraneous noises, not wanting a repeat of the attack that had left this brixtel body so devastated.** ****

**  
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**The path had not changed, the second clearing, when they reached it, seemed a peaceful antithesis to what it had been a couple of weeks ago.When they reached a rocky wall, though, Buck felt a dread that caused him to halt for a moment.There were flashes of intense pain, bright blinding light and the scent of intense fear.**

**  
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**As the two crewmen passed through an opening in the rock face, Hawk emerged.“Buck,” he said.“All is in readiness.”** ****

**  
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**Buck could only nod, even though he now wanted to demand that Dr. Goodfellow find another way.He couldn’t force himself to move.** ****

**  
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**“Dr. Goodfellow and Twiki assure me that this is the best chance to reverse the transmutation,” he added, as though able to read Buck’s mind.** ****

**  
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**Buck nodded again, realizing the truth of what Hawk had said._Twiki? _he wondered.Buck knew the ambuquad was clever, but partnered with Dr. Goodfellow?Crichton was probably having six different litters of kittens.That little mental image broke the sudden and debilitating hold on him.He slowly trotted forward into a darkness that was stygian, broken only by a soft yellow glow further inside the cave.The narrow corridor finally opened into a large cavernous chamber.The glow was from a small lantern on the far side of him.Illuminated in its glow were Twiki, Wilma, Dr. Devlin and Dr. Goodfellow, bent over something he couldn’t see.The two med techs stood to one side of the cave.**

**  
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**It was himself, Buck realized as he approached the pair.Behind him, he heard Hawk, his tread quiet as usual, but still very audible to the brixtel’s ears.Twiki turned toward him with a friendly beep and then the two doctors did the same.“Buck, my dear fellow,” the older man began.“We are going to recreate the very same events that caused the transmutation.We haven’t been able to replicate it in the lab, but I don’t feel we can wait any longer.”** ****

**  
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**Buck nodded in agreement, feeling the weakness of this body and having seen the deterioration of his own body, but couldn’t tell if they saw his response or not.That would be one thing he would be eternally grateful to get back—the gift of speech.** ****

**  
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**“Twiki will be the conduit for your body, since you can’t hold a pistol.He told me he had done the same thing for you before.”Goodfellow paused.“Something about a Roshan?”** ****

**  
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**Again Buck nodded.He remembered it well.Somehow, he had managed to fit the description of the so-called five-hundred-year-old ‘savior’ and had been snookered into fighting a planetary bully by the name of Traybor.The warlord had the ability of conducting and throwing electricity as a weapon.Twiki had served as a combination lightning rod/conduit, throwing the Traybor’s electric impulses back at him when they hit Buck.** ****

**  
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**“Now exactly where was the crystal that you remember flashing bright red when you fired at the brixtel?” Dr. Goodfellow asked.** ****

**  
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**Buck limped to the place where a baseball-sized crystal had been sitting, its malevolent red light seeming to glare as balefully in the soft light of Wilma’s flashlight as the brixtel’s eyes had in the light of his own flashlight that first time.He pointed with a claw.Dr. Goodfellow nodded as though he had already figured it out.**

**  
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**“And you were standing here?” Hawk asked, pointing to where Buck’s body now sat unconscious in a high portable chair.When Buck nodded, Hawk placed Twiki on top of a platform that would have him holding the laser pistol about as high as Buck normally held it.They were leaving nothing to chance.** ****

**  
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**Suddenly Wilma was in front of him, down on her knees, her eyes hopeful and fearful at the same time.“Whatever happens, Buck Rogers, whatever happens, I love you,” she whispered.“You know that.”** ****

**  
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**He nodded, wishing again that he could respond in a more appropriate way.He wanted to take her in his arms, hold her close, feel her warmth and reassure her in ways he had done in the past.Without warning, Wilma reached out and hugged him tight to her, unmindful of the strange feel of the brixtel hide.Her warmth was reassuring to him and he laid his chin on her back.It was only Twiki’s beep that pulled them apart.**

**  
**

**Twiki held the pistol in one claw/hand and laid his other extremity on Buck’s body’s shoulder.The head lolled forward and Buck had to repress a shudder.Somehow he felt that this would be their only chance.**

**  
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**Twiki beeped and said, “Let’s get this show on the road.”** ****

**  
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**“Everything is as it should be, Buck?” Dr. Devlin asked.** ****

**  
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**Buck padded over to the spot where the brixtel had been waiting and then nodded.**

**  
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**“Very well, then,” Dr. Goodfellow said.“We will have to leave.It’s up to you, Twiki.”** ****

**  
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**Twiki beeped again.He almost sounded jovial.“You got it, Doctor.”** ****

**  
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**Wilma gazed at him and he cocked his head in what he hoped was reassurance.She appeared ready to come back over and embrace him, but Buck suddenly wanted to get this over with; whatever ultimately happened.He turned and faced the robot and himself with increasing anxiety.The red crystal winked balefully next to him as though aware of what was going on.He sincerely hoped not.In order to continue the semblance of exactness, Buck crouched as though to spring on the human across from him and growled.**

**  
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**Twiki aimed the laser pistol and held it for what seemed an eternal moment, then he fired.Several things seemed to happen at once.There was searing heat and the brain numbing cold, blinding light that penetrated to his very molecules.The crystal’s light was brighter than the laser and he, Twiki and his body were engulfed in its red light.Buck heard two ear-piercing shrieks, one high, one low and then there was pain—horrible and debilitating pain that seemed determined to wrench his guts out of his body.Then there was swirling dizziness that would have made him lose his breakfast had he eaten any.**

**  
**

**Suddenly there was absolute silence.Blissful, beautiful silence that was soon accompanied by a total blackness, then there was nothing.**

**  
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**===================================**

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**Hawk stood just outside the entrance of the cavity, his fingers drumming nervously on the handle of his laser.Wilma was right beside him.He hadn’t been able to tell if the horrible shriek had been from one voice or two, but it had caused the feathers to stand up on the back of his neck and chills to race up and down his spine.**

**  
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**The bright burst of light died away at about the same time as the echo of sound.He and Wilma turned, almost as one and looked at Dr. Goodfellow and the rest of the medical staff.The security personnel who had accompanied them gazed alternately at them and around the clearing, their eyes round with anxiety.** ****

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**“I am going in, Dr. Goodfellow,” Hawk said in the unnatural silence.**

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**“Yes, yes, we should.”** ****

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**“No, just Hawk and I,” Wilma said in a voice that brooked no argument.“We’ll let you know if it’s all right for you to follow us.”** ****

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**Goodfellow sighed.“Very well.”** ****

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**Quickly, with pistols ready, they entered the cave.It was totally dark and Hawk, who had gone ahead, turned on a small flashlight.The shadows danced on the rugged walls, which seemed to have changed somewhat.A slight trembling in the ground below their feet startled him._Earthquake? _he wondered and the thought caused him to quicken his pace.**

**  
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**Wilma must have had the same thoughts.“We’d better hurry.Just in case all this has made it unstable in here,” she said softly.“I’ll check Buck.You check the brixtel.”** ****

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**Hawk nodded, hoping that her choice of words precluded success.He found the creature that had been housing his friend’s soul and kneeled, feeling for life.He could find no heartbeat.Belatedly, Hawk pulled out the small medical sensor and turned it on.It confirmed his first conclusion—there was no life.His fingers lingered on the scarred shoulder and he murmured a few of his people’s words of release.The body had served Buck well.He could only hope, at this point, that Buck was not still residing in the lifeless husk.**

**  
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**“He’s still alive!” Wilma called out.As if her voice was a trigger, the ground shuddered again and a few rocks tumbled from the walls.**

**  
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**Quickly Hawk reached her side.“I do not think we have time to waste calling the medical team or Dr. Goodfellow in here.”She nodded.“His condition?”** ****

**  
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**Wilma was using her medical recorder.“Heart rate, breathing seem to be very low, but within the realm of acceptability,” she responded.She glanced over at the brixtel.“And him?”** ****

**  
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**“The brixtel is dead.”** ****

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**Wilma drew in a ragged breath and then sighed.“Then we had better hope this worked.”** ****

**  
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**“Yes.”Hawk checked out Twiki, who lay in a heap next to Buck.Parts of his torso and all of his head appeared charred.There appeared to be no life in the ambuquad.The ground shuddered again, this time harder.Rocks tumbled down from the walls.“I will take Buck,” Hawk said, dodging a small rock that fell from the ceiling.“You get Twiki.”** ****

**  
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**“Twiki?” she asked as though being reminded of something that she should have thought of herself.**

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**“Yes.Although he appears heavily damaged, perhaps beyond repair, I know Buck, as well as Dr. Goodfellow, would want to try saving him.”** ****

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**“Of course,” Wilma said softly as she continued gazing at Buck.**

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**“I am sure the transmutation was successful,” Hawk reassured her, his voice soothing.He gathered Buck as carefully as he could, but it was awkward.Buck was bigger than he was, even in his debilitated condition, but he finally managed and made it out of the cave with his unconscious friend.**

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**Wilma followed with Twiki, who was heavier than he looked.Dr. Goodfellow and the medical team were right outside and the latter leaped to help Hawk.The birdman was grateful.The ground shuddered again and he almost dropped Buck as he stumbled.Two of the med techs took the unconscious man from his arms and further into the clearing.The security men helped Wilma with Twiki.**

**  
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**“I need to go in and get that crystal,” Dr. Goodfellow said as he alternately gazed at Buck and the entrance of the cave.**

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**“No, Doctor,” Hawk said, his voice brooking no argument.“It is dangerous and unstable.”** ****

**  
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**“But….”** ****

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**“I have to agree, Dr. Goodfellow,” Wilma said.“Your safety is paramount to Buck’s recovery.”Then she smiled.It was an anxious smile, but her eyes held affection for the old man.“You are too valuable to all of us to risk in an unstable cave.An excavation and recovery crew can return later.”** ****

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**Dr. Goodfellow said nothing for a brief moment, then he walked toward the shuttle where the med techs had already taken Buck.“You’re right, I need to see to Buck and Twiki.”Then he paused again and turned back toward Wilma and Hawk, who had followed him.“The brixtel?”** ****

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**“It is dead, Doctor,” Hawk said.**

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**“Yes….”Dr. Goodfellow’s voice trailed off.He walked up the shuttle ramp and began asking the medical staff questions.Then he looked back at Wilma.“I think we need to get back to _Searcher_ immediately,” he declared.Hawk left for his fighter.**

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**Just as the shuttled lifted off, the ground rumbled and shook even harder.Trees swayed and there was a booming from within the cave, followed by a billowing of dust from the entrance.Hawk staggered the last few steps to his fighter and then scrambled aboard, quickly powering up his engines.Soon, he, too, was airborne.**

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**“Hawk, are you all right?” Wilma asked over the comm.“The instruments picked up another earthquake.”** ****

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**“Yes,” he answered.“I had no problems.”** ****

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**“Let’s go home,” Wilma said wearily.**

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**Hawk could only agree.**

**  
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	8. Chapter 8

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**Several days later, with no one able or willing to give her information about Atu-ai Buck, Miru simply left her cabin one morning and marched to the medical bay.She hesitated only a moment at the door, but then she pressed the button and entered.No one was in the immediate vicinity so she walked into the next room.There she found Buck on a medical bed with Dr. Goodfellow nearby looking at something she couldn’t see.Softly she reached over and touched Buck on the arm.**

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**“Oh, my child, you startled me,” the old human said, dropping the instrument in his hand.In the next room, Miru saw Dr. Devlin working with laboratory equipment.**

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**“I’m sorry, Doctor,” she said.“But I could not find out anything and I was worried.”** ****

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**“Hawk hasn’t said anything to you?”** ****

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**She shook her head.“No, in fact he has not been around for me to ask.I suppose that he has been on patrol a great deal lately, finishing the surveys on the planet.”** ****

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**Dr. Goodfellow nodded.“Yes, I think he is discouraged that Captain Rogers didn’t immediately wake up.”** ****

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**Miru understood that.She was disappointed and she hadn’t known the human as long as her guardian, Hawk had.Colonel Deering had also been inaccessible.Miru could only imagine the sadness that the human woman was feeling.“Have you been able to tell if the transmutation was successful?”** ****

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**“I am almost certain of it.The brain scans are normal for Buck now,” Goodfellow said.**

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**“Then why can he not awaken?” she asked, even though she guessed at the reason.She had seen enough of the unsuccessful seeings on her home world to understand the depths where a person’s inner essence could hide from something that was horrible or too hard to bear.Again, she touched Atu-ai’s arm, then took his hand in hers.At first, she felt nothing and then a deep and unrelenting darkness.She glanced at Dr. Goodfellow, but he only gazed curiously at her and then nodded.Closing her eyes, Miru tried to reach deeper into Buck’s mind.Suddenly, she felt something coming at her, reaching for her, something desperate, and she cried out sharply.**

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**==============================** ****

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**  
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**Buck felt as though he was trapped in a cold vat of molasses.He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids seemed glued together.He couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t move, couldn’t say anything.Someone had once used a kind of paralysis ray on him.When was that?He couldn’t think.This seemed even more complete than that fleeting memory of something that might or might not have been similar.Buck felt himself drifting but it wasn’t the comfortable floating of lethargic relaxation.It was more like the aimless, despair-filled drifting of a damned soul.He had to get out of whatever this place was or he would be stuck forever.How did he know that?Just knew!Buck didn’t know why, only that it was so.He couldn’t do anything though.Panic seemed to blend with the despair and Buck wanted to scream aloud.**

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**Then he felt a touch; something vibrant, soft and gentle and he tried to focus on it.By now, Buck realized this was some kind of mental struggle, but still he used a form of reality imaging, reaching with a mental “hand” to grasp the psychic lifeline.He felt like a drowning sailor grasping a hold of a life preserver.Reaching, reaching, reach!!The touch, the contact, seemed to fade and he tried to take a firmer hold of that tenuous lifeline.**

**  
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**Buck felt touched, grasped.The contact seemed to be pulling back, jerking away.NO!Buck felt as though he was traveling through a tunnel, a vortex with a bright doorway at the end.Almost there . . . almost!The tunnel seemed to be narrowing.NO! he cried out again in his mind.Then he was sitting up on a med bed, gasping, watching the room dance crazily from one side to the other.He felt the sweat slick his face, trickle down his chest.Hands grasped his shoulders and held him steady.He slowly looked up and saw Dr. Goodfellow scrutinizing him.Miru stood next to him.**

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**“Buck, dear boy, it is really you, isn’t it?” Dr. Goodfellow said earnestly.“Is it you?”** ****

**  
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**Ridiculous question, Buck thought.Then memory rushed in and he remembered the brixtel.He started to nod, but dizziness prevented that.“Yes,” he choked out, his voice feeling hoarse, as though rusty from disuse.** ****

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**“Lay back down, Captain,” Dr. Goodfellow said seriously, although his grinning face looked anything but serious.**

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**Buck complied.The room was still spinning crazily.He looked at Miru.She was smiling happily.“It was you,” he said softly.“You had touched me.You were the one I was trying to reach.”** ****

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**She nodded and at that moment, the door slid open and Hawk rushed in.“Buck!” he cried out.**

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**“Good timing,” Buck murmured.**

**  
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**“No, I felt something and was approaching the ship, so I came straight here when I had docked,” Hawk replied.He gazed meaningfully at Miru.“I always felt you had more of the old powers than your elders gave you credit for,” he added to the young birdwoman.**

**  
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**“Amazing, simply amazing,” Dr. Goodfellow added, gazing at all of them.“Miru, can I prevail upon you to go and fetch Col. Deering.I believe she might want to be here now that Captain Rogers is awake.”** ****

**  
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**Miru nodded, still obviously basking in this small accomplishment.Although she looked as though she wanted to stay, she quickly turned and left.**

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**“Miru,” Buck called out.She stopped.“Thanks,” he told her with a smile.Returning his smile, the girl continued out of the medical bay.**

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**“I am so glad you came out of this,” Dr. Goodfellow said, fussing over Buck, checking his vital signs that the monitors were very capable of imparting on their own.“I was very worried about you.”** ****

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**“Doc, do you have something for this dizziness?” Buck interrupted.**

**  
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**“Oh, yes, yes,” Dr. Goodfellow said, turning to get something from the far side of the room. **

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**“I was worried about you, too, my friend,” Hawk said, a slight smile on his lips.** ****

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**“Me, too,” Buck said, in a slightly puzzled voice.Then it occurred to him.He was talking.No tapping, no keyboard.Didn’t need Twiki to translate for him.He was talking.Then he remembered the cave.Twiki.Dr. Goodfellow was bringing over a syringe filled with an amber colored liquid.“Where’s Twiki?” he asked.**

**  
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**“Oh, dear.Twiki was almost completely destroyed by the power of that crystal,” Dr. Goodfellow said as he administered the drug.**

**  
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**Buck felt the medicine working almost immediately.“Can’t you fix him?” he asked anxiously.Losing Twiki was like losing a close friend.**

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**“Fix him?” Goodfellow repeated.“No.We might be able to replace his positronic parts so that he can function.”** ****

**  
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**Buck gazed at the ceiling.“With his former personality?His memories?”** ****

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**“We have a great number of things on record,” the doctor replied.“We could certainly try, if you would like us to.”** ****

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**“Please,” Buck said softly, still gazing at the ceiling.Just then the door slid open and Wilma burst in.She flung herself on him.**

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**Buck was suddenly covered with kisses, delivered too fast for his stiff and sore body to return.She said nothing, but nothing needed to be said.He held her close.**

**  
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**“Welcome back,” Hawk said quietly, almost to himself, from next to the old doctor.**

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**When Wilma drew back for air, Buck grinned.It was certainly good to be back.So very good.He pulled Wilma back toward him and initiated his own kiss.**


End file.
